Crater's Tostenson Signs with Georgetown University

Tostenson selected the Hoyas over other Division I offers from Oregon and Gonzaga.

Posted: Mar. 18, 2019 11:37 PM

Posted By: Jake Garcia

CENTRAL POINT—Following a Crater pipeline and a family bloodline of Division I athletes, Jantz Tostenson is headed to Georgetown University.

The track and cross country star signed with the Hoyas on Monday, choosing them over University of Oregon and Gonzaga.

"It was really hard coming down to it all,” he said. “I had to think about it for over a month. I was just getting to the point where I was super stressed out because I wanted to follow my passion in running because that's what got me here today but I also wanted to look at my future and what would benefit me the most. In the end of the day, Georgetown, their law school and their school in general, a 17 percent acceptance rate and the prestigious academics, won it over. I just had to go there."

Tostenson is believed to be the 18th Crater running to receive a Division I scholarship under head coach Justin Loftus.

He’ll join a cross country team that’s coming off a Big East championship and a track team that placed third.

"The summer of his sixth grade year, he came up to camp with us in Montana and he was running up some of these hills the high school kids were running and testing them and it was like, 'Well we'll see where this goes.' You never know where kids are going to take things," Loftus said.

"I just felt talking to my friends and family, when I came back from that visit, they were like, 'I already knew. You talked about it way more and you liked it way more.' We reviewed everything and finally sat down for like an hour to look back on everything and about a week or two ago I was like, 'I want to go to Georgetown and be a part of that,'" Tostenson said.

He’s the second Division I athlete in his family.

His sister, Gracie, is a redshirt senior competing for the Boise State track and field team.

In regards to navigating his two close-to-home options in Oregon and Gonzaga with Georgetown on the other side of the country, he said he tried to pay as little attention to distance as possible, and has full confidence he’s ready for an adventure beyond the west coast.

"From the beginning I said moving is not that big of a deal to me and change is not that big of a deal to me. For me I know I can adapt and try new things. I'll be able to come back and visit but right now I need to focus on what's going to help me in the future and what's going to help me be successful down the road," he said.